DIGNITY STANDARDS.pdf
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- Solicitation number
- 36C78626B0006
About this file
This document is a National Cemetery Administration Dignity Standards guide that establishes mandatory procedures for contractor personnel performing work at national cemeteries.
Contractors must perform all work with special care, reverence, dignity, and respect, recognizing the cemetery as a final resting place for servicemembers, Veterans, and their families. Key requirements include: contractors cannot walk, stand, lean, sit, jump on, or drive over headstones or markers; tools such as shovels, pry bars, or pinch bars (not pickaxes) are approved for marker removal; headstones must be removed using wooden and/or metal clamps with protective rigid fabric contact surfaces, and may be extracted using skid steer loaders or similar machinery; removed headstones must be carefully stored on their associated gravesites with the inscription side up and protected from direct ground contact using approved methods such as two wood 4X4 supports (cardboard is prohibited); no tools or equipment may be placed on headstones or markers; and headstones must never be leaned against each other. Contractors are responsible for replacing any damaged headstones and markers and restoring damaged turf. If any work results in exposure or damage to remains, containers, or burial containers, the contractor must immediately contact the Contracting Officer Representative, Director/Assistant Director, and Contracting Officer for guidance. The contractor must discuss these standards with all employees, obtain signed statements of compliance from each employee, and deliver these signed statements to the Contracting Officer Representative before work commences.
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?.## NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION DIGNITY STANDARDS
NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION DIGNITY STANDARDS
Every action by contractor personnel at a National Cemetery must be performed with the special care, reverence, dignity, and respect that acknowledge the cemetery as the final resting place that commemorates the service and sacrifice those service members, Veterans, and their families made for our Nation. Critically important is the awareness, required of the contractor employees, of the remains buried in the grounds where the work is performed. The utmost care must be given to these remains and the headstones and flat grave markers that mark those gravesites and memorialize the service of individuals.
a. Contractors cannot walk, stand, lean, sit or jump on headstones or markers. Nor can they drive over them. Contractor personnel should use tools approved by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR), such as shovels, pry bars or pinch bars to lift flat markers out of the ground; pickaxes are not an acceptable tool.
b. No tools, equipment or other items will be placed or leaned on headstones or markers. Once headstones/markers are removed from the socket, do not place on dirt piles or mud; they should be carefully placed on each associated gravesite and protected in such a way as to prevent any soiling and be out of the way of any other work.
c. Headstones shall be removed from their sockets using wooden and/or metal clamps. If metal clamps are used, the area that contacts the headstone must be protected with a rigid fabric that will prevent damage to and marking of the headstone. Clamps may be attached to a skid steer loader (i.e., Bobcat®) or similar machine to extract the headstone from the socket. When headstones are removed from their sockets, they shall be carefully stored on each associated gravesite; do not lean headstones against each other. Use care not to scratch or damage headstones in any manner. The headstones shall be laid with front inscription side up while the headstone is lying horizontally on the ground. The headstone shall be protected from direct ground contact while lying horizontally. The protection method shall be as approved by the COR and shall be free of deterioration in weather. An approved method is to support each headstone with two wood 4X4’s. Alternate methods can be approved. Cardboard shall not be used.
d. Wood or other suitable appropriate and attractive material shall be used to keep the headstones from contact with the soil while lying horizontally during the construction period.
This also shows respect towards the families visiting the gravesites and the remains that are buried.
e. Contractor shall be responsible for replacing damaged headstones and markers and for restoring turf damaged during performance of this work.
f. Additionally, should any activity result in the exposure and/or damage to any remains, container for remains (i.e., casket or urn), or outer burial container, the Contractor must contact the COR, Director/Assistant Director, and Contracting Officer (CO) for guidance.
2. Any doubts as to proper procedures shall be brought to the attention of the COR, Director/Assistant Director, and CO for guidance or resolution.
3. The Contractor is required to discuss the guidance with their employees and have each employee sign a statement of compliance and deliver the signed statement to the COR before work may begin.
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| ?.## NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION DIGNITY STANDARDS |
| NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION DIGNITY STANDARDS |
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